When should I order seafood for National Day?

As early as you can for a fixed date. Prices firm ahead of National Day and the year-end holidays, and availability at a specific grade runs out first. Availability is confirmed against the weekly landing list and delivery is scheduled by appointment across the UAE.

Scholars differ. The majority view (Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali) is that all sea creatures are permissible; the Hanafi school holds that only fish are. Our halal guide sets out the positions — it is not a ruling, and a binding answer should come from your own religious authority. Serving a fin-fish centrepiece such as bluefin alongside crab respects both views.

How far ahead should I thaw king crab for a dinner?

12–24 hours in the refrigerator, depending on size. Once thawed, keep it at 0–2°C and serve it the same day or the next. Never thaw it at room temperature or in water, and never re-freeze it.

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Buyer's Guide

A UAE National Day Seafood Menu — Hosting a Gathering

National Day is one of the peak entertaining dates of the UAE year, and a gathering on 2 or 3 December is a date that will not move for anyone's supply. This guide sets out a sharing menu built around three products, how much of each to order for a crowd, and the ordering and thawing timeline that gets it to the table in the condition you paid for.

Looking for the product itself? See Norwegian Red King Crab — the cold barents sea off northern norway — clusters, merus and claw, frozen at peak.

A sharing menu built around three products

A National Day table works best as a sharing menu rather than a run of fixed courses: platters down the middle, guests helping themselves, and a kitchen that sends food out in rounds rather than all at once. Three products carry it — Norwegian red king crab, bluefin tuna and red caviar.

King crab as the centrepiece. Clusters — the legs and claw joined at the shoulder — are the feast format: steamed for four to six minutes just to heat through, piled on platters with drawn butter and lemon, with crackers and picks so guests do the work. If you would rather nobody cracked shell at the table, merus is the plated alternative: the thickest leg section, warmed briefly in butter or served cold.

Bluefin as the second centrepiece. Akami seared hard and briefly for tataki, chutoro cut as sashimi, served leanest first. Otoro, if you include it, is a piece or two each rather than a portion. Bluefin also gives the table a fin-fish centrepiece alongside the crustacean, which matters for some guests — see the section on the halal question below.

Red caviar for the canapés. Wild salmon roe on blini with crème fraîche, or king crab claw meat dressed simply and served cold, handed round as guests arrive. Salmon roe is the right roe for volume canapé work, where sturgeon caviar would be extravagant.

Keep the rest of the table simple. Premium seafood does not need a sauce to hide behind, and three strong products read as more generous than ten average ones.

How much to order for a gathering

Decide the cut before the quantity. Clusters are sold in shell, and shell is a large share of the weight: roughly two to three servings per kilogram. Merus and claw meat are shell-free, so the same weight goes considerably further.

With crab as the hero of the meal, plan around 400–600g of clusters per person. On a sharing table where crab sits alongside bluefin and caviar, order substantially less — crab is rich, and guests consistently eat less of it than the host budgeted for, particularly with butter on the table.

For bluefin, 50 to 60 grams of trimmed tuna per person is generous as part of a mixed platter, and 80 to 100 grams if it is a course in its own right. Order above those weights to allow for trimming. For red caviar, 10–15g per person as a tasting or canapé.

The most common mistake at a large gathering is multiplying the main-course crab figure by the headcount and then adding everything else on top. If three centrepieces share the table, none of them is the whole meal.

Product	Role on the table	Per guest
King crab clusters	The hero of the meal	400–600g, in shell
King crab clusters	One centrepiece among several	Substantially less than the main-course figure
King crab merus or claw meat	Plated course or canapés	Less weight than clusters for the same servings — no shell
Bluefin tuna	Part of a mixed platter	50–60g trimmed
Bluefin tuna	A course in its own right	80–100g trimmed
Red caviar	Tasting or canapé	10–15g

Working guidance from our portioning guides. Bluefin weights are trimmed, so order above them; clusters give roughly two to three servings per kilogram.

Order ahead of National Day

King crab is wild-caught under quota, and demand rather than supply drives most of the price movement buyers feel. Prices firm ahead of National Day and the year-end holidays, and availability at a specific grade is what runs out first.

For a fixed date, order ahead of it rather than into it. Availability is confirmed against the weekly landing list and delivery is scheduled by appointment across the UAE, so the earlier the order, the more choice you keep on grade and cut.

Whole and live king crab are pre-order only. If you want a presented centrepiece rather than clusters on platters, plan for it early.

Current prices are shown on the product pages where they are published, and otherwise confirmed on request against the weekly list. Prices move with the season, so confirm them when you order rather than working from a figure you saw weeks earlier.

Your guests, and the halal question

Crab is widely served across the UAE, but the schools of jurisprudence differ on crustaceans. The Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali schools generally hold that all creatures of the sea are permissible; the Hanafi school takes a narrower view. Our guide Is King Crab Halal? sets out the positions in more detail.

That is a summary of well-known scholarly positions, not a ruling. For a binding position, consult your own scholar or religious authority.

The practical answer for a host who does not know every guest's position is to offer the choice rather than assume. A table with both a crustacean and a fin-fish centrepiece — king crab alongside bluefin — respects both views without comment.

On documentation: origin documentation comes with every consignment, and halal certification is supplied on request for the products that carry it. Ask for it in writing rather than relying on a verbal assurance.

Cold chain, thawing and the day itself

King crab and bluefin arrive frozen and must be thawed slowly. Move them from the freezer to the refrigerator 12–24 hours before serving, depending on the size of the piece — never at room temperature, never in water. Keep packs sealed and on a tray; they release liquid as they thaw.

King crab is already cooked. Once thawed, keep it at 0–2°C and serve it the same day or the next. Clusters need only four to six minutes of steam to heat through, and claw meat needs no heat at all. Never re-freeze thawed crab.

Bluefin thawed for raw service is a same-day product. Cut it while it is still firm and very cold at the centre, across the grain, and plate at the last moment.

Red caviar is delivered chilled, not frozen, and must never go into the freezer — freezing ruptures the grain. Keep it cold, open only what you will serve, and bring it out over ice at the moment it is eaten.

Receive the delivery properly: frozen product should be hard at the door and go straight into the freezer, or into the refrigerator if the thaw is starting. For a gathering on a fixed date, work backwards from serving time and book the delivery appointment so the thaw fits.

Frequently asked

How much king crab do I need for a National Day gathering of 20?: If crab is the hero of the meal, 400–600g of clusters per person — roughly 8–12kg for twenty. If it shares the table with bluefin and caviar, order substantially less: crab is rich and guests eat less of it than expected. Shell-free merus and claw meat need less weight for the same servings.
When should I order seafood for National Day?: As early as you can for a fixed date. Prices firm ahead of National Day and the year-end holidays, and availability at a specific grade runs out first. Availability is confirmed against the weekly landing list and delivery is scheduled by appointment across the UAE.
Is king crab halal?: Scholars differ. The majority view (Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali) is that all sea creatures are permissible; the Hanafi school holds that only fish are. Our halal guide sets out the positions — it is not a ruling, and a binding answer should come from your own religious authority. Serving a fin-fish centrepiece such as bluefin alongside crab respects both views.
How far ahead should I thaw king crab for a dinner?: 12–24 hours in the refrigerator, depending on size. Once thawed, keep it at 0–2°C and serve it the same day or the next. Never thaw it at room temperature or in water, and never re-freeze it.

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